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If You're Reading This, It's Too Late
If You're Reading This, It's Too Late is the second book in Pseudonymous Bosch's The Secret Series. Following the patterned theme of featuring one of the five senses, this book revolves around the sense of hearing. Cass and Max-Ernest, now as members of the Terces Society, continue their fight against the Midnight Sun and its leaders, Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais. With the theft of the mysterious Sound Prism, Cass and Max-Ernest set out on a quest not only to retrieve this artifact, but to discover what exactly the Midnight Sun plans to do with it. Plot Prologue Two figures, implied to be Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais, break into and enter a museum filled with magical artifacts. They leave soon after taking a milky white orb that is later revealed to be the Sound Prism. A Field Trip Cass awakens in bed troubled after having the same strange dreams from previous nights. She takes out her sock monster in confusion, and it is revealed that this sock monster is patterned after a creature she has seen repeatedly in her dreams. As she prepares for school and for the upcoming field trip on the same day, she ponders when the Terces Society would next contact both her and Max-Ernest. At school, Max-Ernest seems to share her concerns in a different way as he lightly wonders whether or not the society even exists at all. This causes them to be excited when a coded message in the form of a grocery list appears on Cass's lunch bag. They are further elated when the decoded message is apparently a note from the Terces Society leader, Pietro Bergamo, which instructs them to meet him at the tide pools, the destination of their field trip. Later, Cass and Max-Ernest find themselves at the meeting point where Pietro had instructed them to meet him, all the while being chased by their field trip chaperone, Mr. Needleman, as the latter tries to scold them for separating from the rest of the group. They narrowly avoid being caught by their chaperone before boarding a signaling yacht, where they finally meet Pietro. Though they mistake him for Dr. L, Pietro reminds them that he and Dr. L are twins to the relief of Cass and Max-Ernest, although Cass still remains slightly suspicious. Her fears are founded as they are suddenly bound by the deckhands and realize that the yacht is now flying the flag of the Midnight Sun, and that the Pietro they have met was indeed Dr. L impersonating the true Pietro. They are soon met by the Skelton Sisters, Romi and Montana Skelton, who, after calling Cass and Max-Ernest some rather insulting names, begin to fight over the sock monster that Cass had brought. They are interrupted when Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais enter, with the latter demanding to know the location of the Homunculus. Cass and Max-Ernest truthfully reply that they do not know of such a thing, while Ms. Mauvais reveals that the sock monster Cass had created was indeed patterned after the Homonculus. After threatening to throw Cass and Max-Ernest to the sharks, Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L leave the two, but not before taking Cass's sock monster away. As Cass and Max-Ernest wonder what to do, Max-Ernest remembers a trick from Houdini that allows them to escape. As they explore the ship, they discover the Sound Prism, including its peculiar ability to amplify sound, and learn more about what a homonculus is. While they look for a way to alight the ship, they find that their field trip chaperone, Mr. Needleman has followed them to the yacht. With no other options left, they board Mr. Needleman's lifeboat, only for Mr. Neddleman to reveal himself as Owen. Category:Books